Jackson Square Ventures

Investment decisions sit with the four managing directors: founding partners Greg Gretsch, Pete Solvik, and Bob Spinner, plus Victor Echevarria, who joined in 2018. The firm does not operate a junior partner or principal tier with independent check-writing authority—the managing directors share decision-making, drawing on their own operating backgrounds as former CEOs, CIOs, and founders.

JSV's pipeline runs heavily through the personal networks of its partners and the community programs it operates directly, including the JSV Book Club with more than 250 members and the weekly Startup Ride cycling event. The firm does not publish a formal scout network or partner with external accelerators for primary sourcing, though its Launchpad summer program creates an early, in-person look at ten pre-seed teams per cohort.

JSV typically invests at seed and Series A stages where syndicate partners are common, but the firm's website does not list recurring co-investor relationships or a formal co-investment program. Its portfolio companies have gone on to raise from a wide range of later-stage investors—Strava's cap table, for example, includes Sequoia Capital and Madrone Capital—but JSV itself operates as a lead or active participant in a given round rather than as a follower in other firms' deals.

Launchpad is a 10-week summer accelerator that JSV runs from its San Francisco office, offering selected early-stage startups $35,000 on a SAFE in exchange for in-person access to the firm's partners and network. It serves as a pre-seed scouting mechanism rather than a separately capitalized fund—promising teams that emerge from Launchpad can receive follow-on investment from JSV's main fund vehicles.

JSV focuses on seed and Series A rounds, entering at what it calls 'formative moments' when companies have some proof of concept but need operational help building go-to-market capabilities. The firm does not maintain a dedicated growth-stage or late-stage fund, and it does not publicly track mark-to-market valuations or IRR figures.